Berlin’s FreightHub raises €20m to power the internet of logistics

This is the biggest Series A financing round for a logistics start-up in Europe to date.

Digital freight forwarder FreightHub has raised a $20m Series A round just a year and a half into its existence.

The round was led by Northzone, an early investor in Spotify and iZettle, with participation from Global Founders Capital, Cherry Ventures, Cavalry Ventures and La Famiglia. The family office of the Indian entrepreneurial Mittal family joins the company as a strategic business angel.

‘The freight forwarding industry is one of the last to see full-scale digitalisation’– MICHIEL KOTTING

Ripe for digital transformation

FreightHub is a digital asset-free freight forwarding company located in Berlin. The company leverages state-of-the-art technology to provide seamless processes to the transport industry.

CEO Ferry Heilemann said FreightHub operates in a market that is ripe for digitalisation because the logistics industry relies on outdated, manual and paper-based systems, leading to high prices and inefficiencies.

“Logistics is a trillion-dollar industry with big issues. The market is highly fragmented and lacks transparency,” Heilemann said.

“We launched FreightHub to help companies save both time and money, through reducing friction and improving transparency. The response has been remarkable and we have already grown to supporting over 650 customers, including brand names such as Franke, Viessmann and Home24.”

With its dual bases in Berlin and Hamburg (a global hub for logistics), FreightHub’s team of 80 is combining the best of both worlds from the tech and the freight forwarding industries.

Through its platform, FreightHub provides booking and tracking services for global container and pallet transport via sea, air and rail in real time. Customers can make a booking at market price in just a few clicks and get free access to one of the world’s leading shipment management platforms. In the future, the company will further develop its platform and use data at scale to improve routing, predictability and transparency across the industry.

“The freight forwarding industry is one of the last to see full-scale digitalisation,” said Michiel Kotting, partner at Northzone.

“FreightHub is enabling companies to access the right shipping options at the right price. It really is a no-brainer. With their focus on building the best digital platform to serve their customers, we believe they are in a strong position to capture the market.”